This week at the movies

February 01, 2008

THE BUCKET LIST

Long ago, Carter Chambers’ philosophy professor had his students compile a ‘bucket list’ of all the things they wanted to do before they kicked the bucket. Unfortunately, life intruded and, some 46 years later, that list is nothing more than a memory. Meanwhile, billionaire Edward Cole has lived only to make money and hasn’t thought about his deeper needs in life. When the two share a hospital room, they begin talking about their destiny and reviewing what they’ve made of their lives. They decide the only thing to do is set out on the adventure of a lifetime and start doing whatever they’ve dreamed of. Starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.

Rated PG-13 for language, including a sexual reference

UNTRACEABLE

FBI Special Agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) has seen it all on her beat of investigating cybercrime — until now. An Internet predator has been posting his graphic murders on his Web site, and the more hits his site gets, the faster his victim dies. When the case becomes personal, Agent Marsh is in a race against time to stop the criminal’s sick game.

Advertisement

Rated R for some prolonged sequences of strong gruesome violence, and language.

MEET THE SPARTANS

Heroic Leonidas leads a less-than-impressive and under-dressed army of 13 Spartans in a fight to defend their homeland from the invading Persians in this “300” spoof. Also seemingly threatening the Spartans’ way of life are various pop-culture icons including Ghost Rider, Rocky Balboa, Transformers, a hunch-backed Paris Hilton and many more. No one is safe in this comedy, directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer.

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, language and some comic violence.

JUNO

Juno is a smart teenager facing an unplanned pregnancy by classmate, Paulie Bleeker. With the help of friend, Leah, Juno finds a fitting adoptive couple for her unborn child, and has the total support of her parents as she faces tough decisions. Ellen Page and Michael Cera star. in this comedy.

Jane (Katherine Heigl) is always a bridesmaid whose own wedding is nowhere in sight. It’s not until her younger sister, Tess, captures the heart of Jane’s boss — for whom Jane shares a secret love — that she examines her own situation as “always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”

Rated PG-13 for language, some innuendo and sexuality.

MAD MONEY

Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is a middle-class wife on the verge of losing her house when her executive husband gets downsized; Nina Brewster (Queen Latifah) is a hard-working single mom with two kids; and Jackie Truman (Katie Holmes) is a free spirit with nothing to lose. Together, they form an unlikely friendship and decide to exploit Bridget’s position as janitor at the Federal Reserve to rob the bank of its soon-to-be-destroyed currency. Though it appears the heist went off without a hitch, a single misstep threatens to land them in the hands of the authorities.

Five young New Yorkers throw the party of a lifetime for their friend the same night a giant monster attacks the city. Documented only by their single video camera, the group is in a struggle to survive the terrifying night.